The development of the oil and gas industry has been greatly impacted, and the international oil price has dropped to below 50 US dollars / barrel. Many oil and gas projects have been cancelled or shelved, and mergers and acquisitions have been at a low ebb once. In 2009 and 2010, as the world's economic response to the initial results achieved, the oil industry has improved, investment began to increase, mergers and acquisitions of the total number of projects and the amount also increased. In 2011, the number of oil and gas mergers and acquisitions continued to be stable. Over 1322 cases of oil and gas mergers and acquisitions were announced in the year, an increase of 5% over the 1258 cases announced in 2010, with an average of 3 mergers and acquisitions per day. In 2011, while oil and gas mergers and acquisitions remained stable, there were a series of new changes in the asset structure of mergers and acquisitions.

1) oil and gas upstream mergers and acquisitions trading volume growth, the amount decreased

In 2011, the total number of upstream transactions was 957, up slightly from 947 in 2010, but trading volume declined by 36%, due to the lack of major exchanges. Although the trading volume declined, but in 2011 the proportion of mergers and acquisitions of upstream oil and gas is still high, accounting for about 72% of the total number of mergers and acquisitions of oil and gas, to a certain extent on the companies involved in mergers and acquisitions still attach great importance to access to resources in the source position.

Europe and the former Soviet Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is one of the most important oil and gas deals in North America growth area, but the most active trading in North America in 2011, the United States and Canada, there were 562 cases of upstream oil and gas deals, accounting for 59% of the total.

2) unconventional oil and gas asset transactions are growing rapidly

Global mergers and acquisitions related to shale assets reached $66 billion in 2011. Up to now, most of the unconventional oil and gas acquisitions have occurred in the United States and canada. With the rapid growth of shale gas production in the United States, the world has paid more and more attention to the unconventional oil and gas exploration and development, represented by shale gas. Mergers and acquisitions related to unconventional oil and gas assets have become a hot spot in the oil and gas industry mergers and acquisitions.

3) the amount and amount of mergers and acquisitions of downstream businesses have declined

Ernst & Young accounting firm (E&Y) report shows that in 2011 the global oil and gas downstream mergers and acquisitions transactions were 103, 16% less than in 2010. The transaction volume was $38 billion, down $2 billion from 2010. In 2011, about half of the world's oil and gas downstream mergers and acquisitions occurred in North America, while Europe and Asia accounted for 24%. Downstream mergers and acquisitions, although still active, but compared to the upstream mergers and acquisitions, to be less.

4) oilfield service companies are faced with globalization

In 2011, the merger and acquisition of the global oilfield service company was more eye-catching, announcing the value of the transaction reached 37 billion. With the sustained, steady and healthy development of China's economy and society, the demand for energy increased rapidly. Under such circumstances, the strategic position of oil companies, which shoulder the responsibility of oil and gas supply, is becoming increasingly important in the national economy. Enter the "12th Five-Year" since, in order to better carry out to meet the energy needs of the social responsibility, the three major state-owned oil companies are on their own development goals and strategic adjustments, which take the road of international development, to further increase the "going out" efforts to become a common choice.

China oil internationalization strategy of claim in accordance with the introduction and go to the combination of resources, market, technology and capital combination of ideas, mainly the development of oil and gas business, increase the intensity of international cooperation and capital operation, strengthen the focus of overseas oil and gas exploration and development; Sinopec will be listed as the six major strategic resources strategy first, advocate access to resources put priority status in the company, and proposed to the 2015 share of overseas oil production reached 50 million tons, domestic oil production and oil production accounted for the overseas development goal of "half of the country"; Chinese CNOOC since its inception with international characteristics, is the three largest oil companies and international efforts the largest oil company, was established has been building a world-class energy company as a development goal, attaches great importance to overseas oil and gas market development in recent years, in the international oil The performance of the stage is very active, and the pace of internationalization will be even greater in the "12th Five-Year" period.

In the new historical period, it is inevitable for China Petroleum Corp to choose the road of international development. On the one hand, Chinese economy has developed to a certain extent, need to have a number of internationally competitive enterprises; on the other hand, Chinese of energy especially the petroleum and natural gas demand rapid growth, oil companies need the help of the international market to better meet the domestic demand.

From a deeper point of view, the China Petroleum Corp "going out" still has the demand for the speed of development, which is determined by the rapid growth of China's energy demand and the lack of domestic resources. Faced with such a situation, it is a very realistic problem for petroleum enterprises to take into account both efficiency and speed when they are internationalized.

From the history of successful transnational enterprise practice, the enterprises have many ways of internationalization, such as greenfield investment, merger and acquisition, contract entry, technical service and strategic alliance. In many ways, cross-border mergers and acquisitions are relatively efficient and convenient, which will help enterprises achieve leapfrog development in the short term, which is more suitable for China's oil companies at the present stage.

The world's leading companies have achieved international expansion through mergers and acquisitions

Fortune magazine has ranked 500 global companies every year, and its results have a wide range of influence and credibility. Analysis of the annual Fortune magazine gives enterprise ranking data, you can find that the top 500 enterprises are mostly multinational business nature, especially in the top ranking enterprises.

In 2011, Fortune magazine ranked the top 500 in the top ten